Britain accused of failing to speak out against Congo violence

Britain has been accused of failing to use close connections to Paul Kagame,
Rwanda's president and a key ally in Africa, to stop his alleged support for
rebels waging war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

United Nations helicopter gunships this week opened fire to halt a rebel advance in Congo's east and UN tanks were on Friday patrolling key towns as tensions continued to rise.

More than 140,000 people have been forced from their homes as fighting has intensified, and a UN report accused Mr Kagame's government of arming and financing the rebels, and of sending its troops to support their campaign.

Yet senior figures with long-standing ties to the Rwandan president, including David Cameron, William Hague and Andrew Mitchell, were "worryingly silent" on the deteriorating situation, one senior human rights campaigner told The Daily Telegraph.

"Considering how close so many influential British politicians are to Paul Kagame, their current inaction is frankly embarrassing," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch and one of the world's leading experts on Rwanda and Congo.

A UN report handed to the Security Council at the end of last month alleged that Rwanda had sent its own troops into Congo to fight with the rebels, known as the M23 movement, which it had also supplied with arms, recruits and battlefield medical care. It was also alleged that Rwanda was helping Bosco Ntaganda, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Mr Kagame, once a rebel leader himself whose troops ended his country's 1994 genocide in the face of inaction from the West, has consistently denied involvement in the current fighting in Congo. A Rwandan government spokesman last night again repeated this denial, calling the UN report "nonsense".

"Kagame has denied the same in 1996, in 1998, in 2008, and each time it has been shown to be an outright lie," Ms Van Woudenberg said.

"It's at times like now that British leaders' personal connections need to be brought to bear to stop any and all support from Kagame to war crimes suspects and the [rebels].

"If there's ever a time for some strong words with our closest ally in Africa, this is it. It's not the time for softly, softly approach, we need to be clear where the UK stands."

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, has personally called both Mr Kagame and Joseph Kabila, Congo's president, to urge both to work harder to restart a peace process in Congo's east.

President Barack Obama has approved a freezing of some military aid to Rwanda, but no British aid has yet been reviewed, it is understood.

More than a quarter of Rwanda's £320 million annual foreign aid comes from Britain, the country's largest bilateral sponsor, which plans more than £330 million in funding by 2015.

A Downing Street spokesman said that the Prime Minister had met with Mr Kagame during the Rwandan president's visit to London on Wednesday, and had raised the issue of eastern Congo.

"The Prime Minister made clear to President Kagame the UK's serious concerns that Rwanda was providing official support to the M23 rebels in Eastern Congo," she said. "The Prime Minister urged the President to take steps to calm the situation down and build trust in the region."